Unofficial news and tips about Google

June 6, 2007

Google's Gallery of Public Calendars

Google Calendar added a directory of public calendars, structured in 8 categories: popular, TV shows, sports, events, entertainment, miscellaneous, holidays, and Google-related. The directory contains calendars from the web indexed by Google and public calendars created with Google Calendar.

Before subscribing to a calendar you can preview its events in a big overlayed box that can't be closed unless you have a big monitor (tip: if you can't see the OK button at the bottom of the box, press Enter).

In a surprising move, Google made searching the public calendars the default option, so if you want to restrict your search to the events from your calendars, you have to click on "Search my calendars". The option to search for public events is now available as a barely-visible link in the new gallery. Instead of complicating the interface, Google Calendar should have a single search results page that shows the events from your calendars, then other related events from public calendars.

The fact that Google Calendar complicates itself unnecessarily is obvious if you look at how many options are available to add a new calendar: you can add a public calendar, or the calendar of one of your contacts, you can enter the URL or just upload it. And each option has a different place in the interface.

All in all, searching for public calendars is not too important, so it didn't deserve so much focus (it's like a new search engine that returns web sites, not web pages). The option to search for public events should be available even if you don't use Google Calendar, maybe as a OneBox in Google's main search results.

"We've decided to discontinue public calendar search and the public calendar gallery. These were specialized U.S. English-only features that weren't used as extensively as we would have liked, and proved difficult to maintain over time. We're looking at ways to make it easier to search and browse public calendars, but for now we've removed the gallery and public calendar search function."

It's a HUGE bummer that Google has discontinued public calendar search!!!!! I used it for sports teams I follow, local events, etc. It made entering these events into my calendar effortless. Google, bring public calendar search back!!!!

@Last Anonymous:There are many ways to share a public calendar. Click on the small arrow next to the calendar, select "Calendar settings" and you'll find a lot of exporting formats:

* embed the calendar in a web page* send the HTML version of the calendar (blue button)* subscribe to the XML version in a feed reader (orange button)* use the iCal output to subscribe in an application that supports web calendars (green calendar).

Hi, Is there another way to add calendars to your own calendar? All of the teachers on my 9th grade team create a calendar this year and after a student reset her Google account we couldn't figure out how to add all of her classes' calendars to her own. Any help would certainly be appreciated! We'd love to have the search feature for public calendars restored.

Wow, that was THE feature of Google Calendars that made them really useful. It's incredibly hard to believe that they'd yank that feature. I'm usually pretty impressed by Google in that they seem to have a pretty good handle on how their users interact with the various services they offer, but they really dropped the ball on this one. I'm trying to come up with a good reason that they'd do this, but I can't even fathom.

I have to agree with everybody else here - I really bought into Google Calendar _because_of_ the ability to search for group calendars.

Searching for a group calendar allowed me to find a calendar of events for things that I'm interested in at the moment. If I'm on assignment somewhere, it would be nice to be able to find a calendar for the things I'm interested in.

I use a local calendar to see what sorts of tech events are going on. Had the search functionality not been there, I likely would never have found that calendar.

I also use that function to check if a group has a Google calendar. I used to always check to see if a new organization I was joining had an existing group calendar, now I can no longer do that.

I just don't believe Google when they say nobody used it. I do believe them when they say it was difficult to maintain. Still, this is the magic we have relied on Google to deliver on, and they have let us down. Here's hoping the feature comes back and is properly promoted.

Although you can't search for them, it appears that public calendars still exist.A couple of people above were interested in F1. The following calendar exists and appears to be regularly maintained (by an unnamed hero in the UK, I think).http://www.google.com/calendar/ical/pvsbb9be3lh5m0rjp9gi4dpcpk%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics

One more for bringing back public calendar search. If outlook is convertable, then surley there is enough out there (sports, concert events, etc.) to convert to google public calendar to provide to the public.

Ok all the saviour is here. Google has yet to listen to the users. But someone ishttp://googlecal.com/

If everyone posts any user created PUBLIC calendars on this site, than ANYONE can come in and grab the feed of that calendar and add it to their own.

Sure it's annoying but it's a work around that is much appreciated.

As for the school ones mentioned as long as you are the creator it is still quite easy to publicly share the calendars with people you know. As long as you know the link than u can just send them that and tell them to subscribe, the problem is brining in other public calendars which this site goes someway to helping.

What are Google thinking to destroy something that worked and where the content so useful to it's users was created by the users themselves ? I mean there's so little overhead for massive useablility. Shame on Google ! What's more no notification either I only noticed because I suspected I'd missed an event.

WHY GOOGLE, WHY... Your calender is like every other calender now = SUCKSThis is the worse thing GOOGLE could ever do to me. people start businesses, small organizations, and children sports events, and other things.. like plan my week so I don't miss any of my fav. shows, movies, or local community events.

This is pure insanity. The strangest part is that my old calendars that i so easily added by just using the search function still work. My college sports teams, four days weather forecasts, TV show schedules, Obama's future speech times, they still function. How do i access them though without a basic search function??????

Insanity.

People didn't use gcal much in the first place, you have to give apps time to grow in popularity, and then it will be worth it. I thought you knew that GOOGLE.

I wish they'd had enough respect to tell their users beforehand. I used this feature for pro baseball schedules and for NYC Parking regulations.

As of today, google calendar has less value to me and I will be interested in knowing if yahoo or other competitors have this valuable feature. It is not just the stupid decision that was made, its the fact that they didn't tell anyone about it when the decision was made.

I use public calendars so students can be aware of all the course activities at a major university. I found out that Google had removed this feature because my students complained to me. I wish Google would re-enable searching for them.

Is this the first sign of Google starting down the "software arrogant" path? They will probably look back on this decision as the beginning of the end. The reasons given to terminate it are rubbish. And how come there was no notification? Google has taken an enormous dent in my confidence

I agree it was a great feature. I miss it. Why does it still have the option to "Add a Public Calendar" when you can only add the holidays calendars? This is a black eye for the Google Calendar product.

I've been trying to find back how to add public calendars for a few weeks now. I had used the feature to add a calendar of my local NHL team but couldn't find the feature lately. "Ahh, that's just silly me, can't remember or found again where this was..." but today I tried harder to no avail. ??? How come I can't find it? Where is it hidden??!? The last time it hadn't been that hard.

Then I found this.

Why would they cut this incredible feature??? What was the point?

I've known Google to continually add useful features to their offerings. Why would they remove this? This was GREAT!

love everything that google has given us for free - understand when they have to pull back on something either too difficult to maintain or problematic - still vote for re-instatement of public calendar search - although, public calendars are still out there everyone, just not a direct listing for ones that google users created

I agree with everything that others have posted,particularly the lack of notification. I feel a fool as I have been telling people about this great feature..... that now doesn't exist.Shame on the people at Google!

I totally agree -- what sense does it make to create a public calendar, then NOT have it searchable? People log long hours to create these calendars and many others could benefit. Better bring this feature back soon!

I just don't understand how it could take any resources to maintain this. Users post and maintain the calendars and the googlebot indexes the space of calendars automatically. Is there code really so fragile it can't scale?

I just love adding agenda's for all kinds of things. But if we can't search... Google, I love you but this is BAD :(

Peace nontheless ; )

Devvie

Cuisvis hominis est errare, nullius nisi insipientis in errore persevare ------All spelling mistakes are my own and may only be distributed under the GNU General Public License! - ((c) 1995-2001 by Coredump; 2002-7 by DevNullius)

Didn't knew this one. Great tip! You can link this with Google alerts, and you will whenever there is a new calendar for your subjects. This is even better - but from now only as a (microsoft-like:>) "hidden" feature : P

Glad I didn't get rid of my Yahoo account then. I only transferred over because Microsoft was buying out Yahoo which didn't happen. Sorry for all the billions you lost Jerry. And Google was surprisingly easy to use. Especially the Calendar function and adding public calendars. But still if Google is going to act like Microsoft what's the point of switching over? Do they still have executive secretaries?And Google if you're out there, look at how Yahoo allows you to have more than one email running at a time - very useful me thinks.

Great blog and great community. Landed here while trying to find out where the public calendar search function had gone. I'd originally been wanting to search for an F1 calendar. And someone on this thread posted a link to one - thanks!!

I looked like an ass presenting Google Calendars to a client in a board room. I was speechless when I couldn't find the add public calendar link. I had explained how he could his favorite college football schedule to his calendar. Yes please bring this back

For anyone after any English football fixtures, or Australian AFL and Australian NRL fixtures, http://www.thismonkey.com/ has a very handy and robust ical generator that you can save and then import to google!

Well, the inevitable has finally happened with the incredibly short sighted decision, and very patronizing explanation (no one using - yeah sure) to eliminate the public calendar searching, Google has turned into Microsoft.

BTW: I spent a very frustrating 20 minutes drilling down through every menu and help file looking for the "search public" option before I finally arrived here to find it was gone...perfect Google, the Borg has finally assimilated you. I rarely get as frustrated with managerial incompetence without finding a Microsoft logo at the bottom of my ire.

I can't believe it was only two days ago I was telling someone to start using Google Calendar because I had thought it had finally become a mature and "connected" technology. Without the network, it is just a slow, idiosyncratic, 1980's calendar application looking for a dustbin.

Please get your second team bean counting MBA's off this project and give it to some creative and competent pros that will grow it right.

Like the folks above, I got my arse burned in front of my boss when I told him about search the public calendars... I felt like an idiot telling him it's not there any longer and he looked at me "sure...whatever..."

I suppose it's inevitable that Google will become the next Micro$oft :(

Couldn't figure out why I was having such a hard time locating the public calendars. I used this feature all the time... my problem was, that once it was in, I didn't need to search as much. Now that I wanted to update some stuff it is gone??? This bites!!!

I Live in South Africa and use my Google Calendar a lot on my Cellphone as well as view a few others from Major events like School Reunions... PLEASE Bring it Back. I'm constantly learning New stuff about Google apps and loving every minute of it. Please don't go all Yahoo or Hot(Cold) on us. Perrrrrdy Ppppllllllleeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaazzzzzzzzz.

Having a search engine company running a calendar system that can't be searched... something's just not right. Being able to search for public calendars to add to my own calendar is what sets GCal apart from every other calendar on Earth. The "popular cals" list is completely useless because there's virtually nothing on the list. In a world where niche content development has become the model, overall "popularity" is a completely useless metric. In a world where fanboys and girls help generate content, one cannot depend on the primary content source to link to every single source of information, and the best source of information (such as a public Google calendar published by a fan) may not have enough visibility to show up in a regular search.

I am very disappointed that the public calendar search was taken away, it seems like there were many of us who are huge fans of it and came to rely on it to keep in touch with our community events. If you guys don't want to support it anymore at least give us the old listing in static form somewhere, please? PLEASE PRETTY PLEASE?!?! With a cherry on top?! We promise to give it more love if you put it back!!! We all want to help Google rule the world, but taking away the users toys is not cool. Google, I beg you please give us our toys back?!

Would still like to see a search available for public calendars. The NCAA schedules are extremely limited and if you're not a top teir school its not there. I would be happy to create and share a calendar for my school's sporting events but if no one can get it, why bother?

Like everyone else, I'd like the ability to search public calendars back. I can only guess Google had good reason for removing it. Perhaps they were not able to monetize public calendars and will return this feature in a way that is more profitable for them. In general, I prefer a single search box with a simple way of refining the search. For example in Gmail, there are separate buttons for searching gmail versus the web. I'd like to be able to use the same search field for contacts too. Rather than a third search button, why not use radio buttons or a drop down list?

They seem to have brought them back!!!! in a small way, go to the "Add" function at the bottom left of calendars, then click "Browse interesting calendars" There is the option of creating a new one and managing one.

Google, please listen!! Bring back the public calendars - they were so brilliant and useful. It was a great way to keep in touch with local events and opportunities to be involved in my community. Please???